5 From MAC Cosmetics

I have a very small MAC collection, but the products I do have I love & use quite a lot. There are lots of eyeshadows I would like to try and I’m treating myself to them slowly. If you have any suggestions as to what products I need to try from MAC I would love to hear them & let me know if you have any of the ones I mention.

5 From Mac Cosmetics

MAC Pro Longwear Paintpot in Rubenesque – I have three paint pots & love them, they’re so easy to use and I find these Mac ones last for ages without drying out. Rubenesque is a pretty burnt orange colour, It’s creamy and pigmented. I think it has a slight frosty look to it and its so pretty. I often wear this alone all over the lid, I love how effortless cream shadows are to apply. It does make a really good base under shadows too & acts as a primer so they wear longer & the colour is bold and doesn’t crease.

MAC Sharon Osbourne Duchess Eyeshadow Quad – I know this was limited edition so I’m sorry but I do love it & the four shades that are included in this quad are my perfect colours. I’ve included this quad because I do like MAC eyeshadows as a whole. I’ve 11 in total & they’re all great quality. I like that they have such a huge selection of colours and finishes plus the quality is always so good, so I think they are worth the price tag (not that they’re massively expensive).

But focusing on this Duchess quad, all four shades are lovely, pigmented and very blendable. They work well worn together or alone & unlike a lot of palettes / quads there isn’t one dud shade, they’re all beautiful. Embark is matte and slightly dry but still pigmented, Sweet Eyes & Sexy Eyes are Veluxe Pearl and Femme Fatale is a Satin finish. I travel with this quad quite a lot & really love the quality of the shadows & the neutral smokey eye looks I (try) to create.

MAC Duchess Quad Swatches

MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Sweet Heat – The quality of this shadow is so nice, it looks like liquid metal. The finish looks metallic and you get amazing colour pay off. Sweet Heat is a peachy champagne colour with a super metallic finish. I like that this is a brightening colour & it stays pigmented all day without fading & you get no fall out either. You can use these Extra Dimension eye shadows wet or dry depending on how pigmented you want it to be. I love this eyeshadow & its a very pretty colour to wear all over the lid. This shade was from the Magnetic Nude Collection.

MAC Swatches

MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Soft & Gentle – I use this highlighter all the time & it’s lasted ages, there is hardly a dent in it. I have to say its such good value for money. It looks a little sparkly in the pan but don’t be put off, It’s not shimmery but adds a flattering luminous glow to the skin, its beautiful when the light hits & makes you look like you have had the best Summer holiday! The product is baked and so very finely milled, it never looks powdery or too over done just beautiful on the skin (just apply with a light hand & remember less is more). I love having this in my collection & it gets a lot of love.

Five from mac

Mineralize Satinfinish SPF 15 Foundation – Sadly this has been discontinued but I have a tiny bit left which I’m using sparingly. I just love the coverage & smooth finish it gives. It offers a light coverage and reminds me of the Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in that its quite reflective (not shimmery). It gives the skin a fresh luminous finish and easy to blend the only downside is that is doesn’t last all day on my skin, I do need to touch up after 6 hours or so. As I said it is discontinued now but this is the only MAC Foundation I have liked up till now. This is in the shade NC25.

Let me know what Mac products you love, I do have some more to share with you but I will save those for another post.

Favourite Makeup of 2014

Favourite Makeup of 2014

I have been really strict with my 2014 makeup favourites & only included the cream of the crop in this post. So without further ado these are my favourite makeup products from 2014.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Roundest Raspberry* – this is an intense raspberry shade which for a lip crayon has great staying power. Its quite glossy but not slippery on the lips and looks beautiful and bright. Its a shade I wear all year round and love how easy it is to apply this on the go. I need to try a few more Chubby Sticks this year.

Rimmel Apocalips in Galaxy – which again is a deep berry shade. I have 3 of these but this colour is by far my favourite, it glides on the lips and is vibrant and feels nice and hydrating. The other colours I have are a little patchy but this gives a nice even colour. You do need to wipe off the excess product before you apply this as a little goes a long way and can get quite messy.

Clarins Instant Light Complexion Base – I like to wear this either under my foundation to perk my skin up or I mix it in with my foundation for an extra reflective boost. This gives me a healthy glow without being shimmery, it evens out my skin tone and hides imperfections. I have the shade Champagne 02 & its also good at dulling the redness in my skin. I find it to be lightweight & doesn’t feel greasy on the skin at all, it just gives you a lovely fresh healthy finish. It makes a really nice base to apply your foundation & just keeps your complexion looking fresh & bright.

Barbara Daly Long Wear Eyeshadows in Shell –  This is a light pink cream shadow with a gorgeous champagne tone which is pretty worn all over the lid or as an inner corner highlight. This colour really adds brightness to the eye & opens it up. This long wear shadow stick is incredible quality and the packaging is sleek and looks a lot more expensive than £3. They do start to crease a little on me after about 5 hours of wear but I do have quite crinkly eyelids & I just blend it out with my finger & that does the trick.

2014 Makeup Favourites

L’Oreal True Match Foundation in the shade Vanilla – this is the first ever L’Oreal Foundation I’ve tried, this is a light to medium coverage, you can still see all my (hundreds) of freckles which I like. It looks natural and wears really well. It doesn’t oxidise on me and my oily skin seems to only start looking shiny after about 6 hours wear & then I lightly dust some powder on and its good for a few more hours.

Benefit Stay Don’t Stray – This is a dual action eye primer so not only will it keep your eyeshadow in place but you can use it under the eye to keep your concealer put all day long and it works a treat! It gives my eyelids an even colour & is the perfect base on which to apply eyeshadow. Its love & I am going to use some vouchers I got for Christmas to get the full size.

Soap & Glory Solar Powder – This has been my daily bronzer since I bought it back in May. In the pan it doesn’t look like much but once on the skin its just beautiful. The lighter shade has a little sheen to it whilst the slightly darker brown is matte. I tend to mix the two shades together to give a subtle sun kissed effect. I sweep it over the top of my forehead & down on to my cheeks. This isn’t going to give you a deep colour its more for paler skin tones. It just adds such a natural warm glow to the skin and makes me look healthy. The only downside to this is the cardboard packaging it looks tatty after a while and it’s not very travel friendly.

Miss Sporty Cat’s Eyes Palette – Mineral Earth. This has been a handy quad for my many trips up to Scotland. You get four good quality shadows and they’re ideal for achieving neutral smoky eye, or most of the four colours can worn alone all over the lid which Is how I wear them mostly. All 4 colours have a slight frosting to them, nothing sparkly or overly shimmery but they do have a pretty light reflecting quality to them. Its a bargain of a quad & I use it all the time. Like I said its handy and small for travel, its not the most robust packaging but its still going strong after a lot of use.

Sharon Osbourne Duchess Eyeshadow Quad – All four shades are pigmented and very blendable, I think they work well together & unlike a lot of palettes / quads there really isn’t one dud shade, they’re all beautiful. Three of the four have a pretty shimmer frosted finish, I wouldn’t  say they’re overly frosted or shimmery but just enough to add some iridescence, glow and brightness to your look. This is the only Mac purchase I’ve made for the longest time as I tend not to shop there but I couldn’t be happier with this quad & I have used it so much.

2014 Makeup Favourites

L’Oreal Super Liner Carbon Gloss – This eyeliner lasts so well on me and the colour is such a deep black. I like to use this eyeliner for making a really thin line and the nib is precise and easy to use. It doesn’t transfer at all and once it dries it won’t smudge. It also doesn’t dry out in the tube, I find a lot of liquid liners do & its so annoying. These last me at least 3 months and thats using it daily.

Seventeen Stay Time 18 Hour Concealer – This is great for both under eye area & blemishes. I do powder over the top to ensure it stays put all day. Its a great affordable concealer and I’m thrilled with it. Although not too sure about the 18 hour claims, nothing a quick touch up won’t solve. I like to apply this with my finger and find that gives me the best even coverage.

Origins GinZing Brightening MascaraThis mascara is great at separating your lashes & it keeps a curl like no other! I like my lashes to look fluttery and this works well at achieving that. You can build it up on your lashes so they look thick without being crispy. I also like the chunky packaging & I’ve grown to love the big oversized wand. Its a very good all round mascara & I think its quite an unsung hero.

Let me know if you love any of the products I’ve included or if you have any other recomendations.

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.

 

Sharon Osbourne Duchess Quad

Mac Osbourne Collection

Osbourne Collection Mac

It’s been a very long time since I bought anything from Mac, let alone something from a Limited  Edition Collection but I just couldn’t resist this Sharon Osbourne Duchess Eyeshadow Quad. I bought it from my local Mac store and I bought the second to last one, I did want the Kelly one too but that had sold out but after seeing them both side by side in store I preferred the Sharon one. Nothing else from the Collection caught my eye.

I like the packaging and really like the new clear palettes, they are so user friendly and feel sturdy and have magnetic closing, that is so satisfying. The red looks glamorous and cute on my dressing table. I’m pretty chuffed I treated myself to it.

Sharon Osbourne Quad

This Quad has four shades that I will get a lot of wear from, the only permanent colour is Embark, the other 3 are exclusive to this palette.

  • Sweet Eyes (Veluxe Pearl) light champagne nude
  • Sexy Eyes (Veluxe Pearl) – bronzed toned & quite like a rose gold.
  • Femme Fatale (Satin) golden brown
  • Embark (Matte) deep matte reddish brown

All four shades are pigmented and very blendable, Embark is slightly dry but still pigmented. I think they work well together & unlike a lot of palettes / quads there really isn’t one dud shade, they’re all beautiful.  Three of the four have a pretty shimmer frosted finish and I think they will be gorgeous for Summer, I wouldn’t  say they’re overly frosted or shimmery but just enough to add some iridescence, glow and brightness to your look.I’m excited to try lots of different looks with these four shades.

I seem to be drawn like a magpie to Mac’s Pearl and Veluxe finishes and own quite a few others. So this quad will fit well into my collection, also I love neutral shadows too so these I’m sure will be getting a lot of love. If you can’t tell already Im very happy to have snapped one of these up & I’m going to enjoy using it.

Mac eyeshadows

Top – Bottom – Sexy Eyes // Sweet Eyes // Embark // Femme Fatal

Did you manage to get anything from Kelly or Sharon’s collection for Mac?

Sharon Osbourne Duchess Eyeshadow Quad £33.00